"Cheers! Crew drinks up recycled urine in space."
Ewwwww! And it wasn't just pee, it was sweat, too!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Adventures in Cooking
So one of the things I've had to get used to (in a good way, I guess ) is cooking. In my past life, I made food for me, and the ex made food for him. If we ever ate together, it was out at a restaurant. So, when TopGun and I first started dating, I made a comment that it was really nice to sit down to dinner together. Now we do that every night we're home. It makes great time for a conversation and syncing up from the day.
Now, being the Shack-up-Chick for a very traditional man is a little challenging when one has not ever planned or cooked daily meals. Don't get me wrong - I love to cook - it's just that I only ever really did it for holidays and big gatherings. If it were just me, I'd make a box of mac-n-cheese or Rice-a-Roni and eat just that for a meal. No longer an option, dammit! As I said, TopGun is traditional, which means meat, potatoes, and sides. The problem is compounded by the fact that he doesn't like anything green, as in vegetables. Now that wouldn't normally be an issue, since I don't like them either, but he's really, really picky!! Even more so than I am! Oh, and have I mentioned he's also a pretty darn good cook himself?
I'm getting better (I think), but I still keep "emergency" food on hand. They make these pre-made refrigerated entrees like chicken breast in gravy, and great Country Crock mashed potatoes in a tub. That's my fallback (yeah, Sunday night was a fallback night)! I can put it together in about 10 minutes :-) And yes, I hear about it all through dinner! ("Is this real?")
I'm running out of ideas, though. I can make lasagna, chili, grilled chicken, and steak only so many times. This is HARD! The whole planning process requires forethought at the grocery store, and since I've given up on most of my lists (we'll save that for another post), I tend to stop at the store every night. Also, the whole side dish thing - basically some form of potatoes/bread/corn every night.
So unless I've actually come up with a plan (and then you also have to think about the nights you'll do leftovers and all that), the process goes like this . . . . .
"Baby, what do you want for dinner?"
"Oh, I don't know, what do you want?"
"I don't know, either."
"What do we have?"
"Lots of stuff, but it will take hours and hours to make." -or- "Nothing. I have to go to the store."
"I'll just make a sandwich." (Making me feel WAY guilty that I'm not taking care of my man)
"Can we just order Chinese?"
"Ok, 2 orders of sweet & sour chicken and fried rice will be here in 10."
Since I don't work all that hard at my job, don't have to clean my own house, and have no children to take care of, I should find this easier than it is, right? I guess I should make it more of a priority - it's not like I have anything else to do. But . . . I've been finding it fun to search for new recipes and actually try some out. I made a great mexican casserole the other day, and I made an awesome chicken and pasta last night. I'm also getting good at pork loin in the crockpot.
I've come to the conclusion I need two things: the forethought to plan meals and have stuff in the fridge, and some "go-to" recipes. Some of my favorite sites are allrecipes.com and mixingbowl.com. So if there are any suggestions out there for non-veggie meals for my self-proclaimed "meatatarian," let me know!
My adventures in cooking will continue . . . . . .
Now, being the Shack-up-Chick for a very traditional man is a little challenging when one has not ever planned or cooked daily meals. Don't get me wrong - I love to cook - it's just that I only ever really did it for holidays and big gatherings. If it were just me, I'd make a box of mac-n-cheese or Rice-a-Roni and eat just that for a meal. No longer an option, dammit! As I said, TopGun is traditional, which means meat, potatoes, and sides. The problem is compounded by the fact that he doesn't like anything green, as in vegetables. Now that wouldn't normally be an issue, since I don't like them either, but he's really, really picky!! Even more so than I am! Oh, and have I mentioned he's also a pretty darn good cook himself?
I'm getting better (I think), but I still keep "emergency" food on hand. They make these pre-made refrigerated entrees like chicken breast in gravy, and great Country Crock mashed potatoes in a tub. That's my fallback (yeah, Sunday night was a fallback night)! I can put it together in about 10 minutes :-) And yes, I hear about it all through dinner! ("Is this real?")
I'm running out of ideas, though. I can make lasagna, chili, grilled chicken, and steak only so many times. This is HARD! The whole planning process requires forethought at the grocery store, and since I've given up on most of my lists (we'll save that for another post), I tend to stop at the store every night. Also, the whole side dish thing - basically some form of potatoes/bread/corn every night.
So unless I've actually come up with a plan (and then you also have to think about the nights you'll do leftovers and all that), the process goes like this . . . . .
"Baby, what do you want for dinner?"
"Oh, I don't know, what do you want?"
"I don't know, either."
"What do we have?"
"Lots of stuff, but it will take hours and hours to make." -or- "Nothing. I have to go to the store."
"I'll just make a sandwich." (Making me feel WAY guilty that I'm not taking care of my man)
"Can we just order Chinese?"
"Ok, 2 orders of sweet & sour chicken and fried rice will be here in 10."
Since I don't work all that hard at my job, don't have to clean my own house, and have no children to take care of, I should find this easier than it is, right? I guess I should make it more of a priority - it's not like I have anything else to do.
I've come to the conclusion I need two things: the forethought to plan meals and have stuff in the fridge, and some "go-to" recipes. Some of my favorite sites are allrecipes.com and mixingbowl.com. So if there are any suggestions out there for non-veggie meals for my self-proclaimed "meatatarian," let me know!
My adventures in cooking will continue . . . . . .
Starting Again
I've been thinking about this for awhile - writing again. It's something I know I'm good at, but I just don't know that I have anything interesting to write about.
I will say that blogging/journaling while navigating through a divorce and all the emotions that came along with that was highly beneficial for me.
Now, I know there are funny things that happen during the day, and strange things that I just want to talk about, but I question whether or not I want to get that personal with some things, and going back to the whole self-esteem issue, who on earth would want to read anything I wrote?
Regardless, I think I'm going to do this when I feel the urge. It's terrible - just another thing to keep up with - between different internet groups I watch, particular pages I go to every day, Facebook, Twitter, all that . . . . here I am committing myself to more technical handcuffs.
Just some structure - I will probably write about things that happen or strike me as funny, but I know that I won't get too personal. I also want to start taking pictures and posting them - of the dogs, the house, landscapes. I'll write about my adventures in job hunting, my adventures in living with a Type A+++ personality, and will probably get to some of the uncertainty I always feel about myself.
So, here's to another adventure!
I will say that blogging/journaling while navigating through a divorce and all the emotions that came along with that was highly beneficial for me.
Now, I know there are funny things that happen during the day, and strange things that I just want to talk about, but I question whether or not I want to get that personal with some things, and going back to the whole self-esteem issue, who on earth would want to read anything I wrote?
Regardless, I think I'm going to do this when I feel the urge. It's terrible - just another thing to keep up with - between different internet groups I watch, particular pages I go to every day, Facebook, Twitter, all that . . . . here I am committing myself to more technical handcuffs.
Just some structure - I will probably write about things that happen or strike me as funny, but I know that I won't get too personal. I also want to start taking pictures and posting them - of the dogs, the house, landscapes. I'll write about my adventures in job hunting, my adventures in living with a Type A+++ personality, and will probably get to some of the uncertainty I always feel about myself.
So, here's to another adventure!
